For years now, brooms have been used for both interior and exterior floor cleaning procedures. Brooms come in all types and sizes, but the most common is the type that looks like an oversized paint brush (with corn bristles) and the long handle. In particular, the most widely used type broom today on interior floor surfaces is a plastic bristled broom having bristles cut on an angle to facilitate sufficient floor sweeping and has a long handle so the user can stand upright.
A disadvantage of brooms is that they can only sweep up dry soil of a rather large size and have no absorbative ability on dry or wet soils. Recently, new products have been introduced into the “handled goods” market. These products are essentially disposable dust mops that will absorb dust and pet hair on hard surface flooring. These new implements use disposable, dry, non-woven cloths sized approximately 10″ by 12″. These dry wipes are attached to a hard, flat, rectangular plastic mop head with an elongated handle. The cloths are discarded when dirty and a new one is attached. A recent variation is a wet wipe version for mopping kitchen and bathroom floors.
If one wants to damp mop or wash the floor the most common thing to do is to purchase another cleaning implement such as a “string mop” or sponge mop to be used with detergent, water and a bucket. Mopping wood flooring requires additional and different cleaning agents.